Schmitz Cargobull is investing in the expansion of its central warehouse for spare parts at Altenberge, Germany. This will ensure a high level of material availability for service partners and customers through improved utilisation at the site.
Schmitz Cargobull’s European spare parts business has grown strongly in recent years. In order to be able to offer fast and reliable delivery of more than 80,000 spare parts, the company is continuously expanding its range of services.
With the new narrow-aisle warehouse more storage space for additional spare parts has been created. Spare parts for Berger lightweight vehicles will also be distributed from the site.
“Compared to independent dealers, Schmitz Cargobull offers a decisive advantage: one-stop shopping and parts identification via the chassis number in the EPOS spare parts portal, which enables fast repairs and high uptime for Schmitz Cargobull trailers,” says Britta Sprey, Managing Director at Cargobull Parts & Services.
Expanded central warehouse
The new, manually operated narrow-aisle warehouse has eight aisles and a rack height of 14 metres. It offers around 3,300 pallet spaces and stores pallet cages, Euro pallets and half pallets. Different shelf heights optimise warehouse utilisation.
The relocation of materials under the roof enables shorter routes in the warehouse, which improves process quality. The improved material availability also leads to shorter delivery times, and further measures to increase and improve storage capacity are planned.
“We now have 29 distribution centres throughout Europe to ensure that we can supply our workshops and customers with the most common spare parts 24/7,” says Sprey. “The central warehouse in Altenberge is used as a distribution centre for Germany and Austria. From here, we supply the international distribution centres several times a day or, if required, we can deliver directly to our service partners throughout Europe.”
Since January 2023, Schmitz Cargobull has relied on 100% digital processes in the central warehouse – from delivery to loading. Employees work with back-of-hand and finger scanners as well as industrial tablets, which enables efficient and secure processes.
EPOS spare parts portal
The Schmitz Cargobull spare parts portal EPOS (Electronic Parts Documentation and Ordering System) is a comprehensive database with a selection of around 80,000 spare parts items. The platform offers service partners and customers with their own workshops everything they need for maintaining trailers and refrigeration units. It acts as a convenient “one-stop shop”, providing access to all spare parts from Schmitz Cargobull and other brand manufacturers.
All common components, chassis and wear parts are available from the Schmitz Cargobull central warehouse, and the 29 distribution centres in Europe. The EPOS portal now contains over 1.4 million documented vehicles. By entering the VIN (chassis number), the service partner can easily identify the required spare parts and order them via the web shop, regardless of opening hours or call centre availability.